Weather Patterns
by jayde-allison
Summary: Raido thinks Genma needs more friends. Genma doesn't want to admit that a young Chuunin has caught his attention. Iruka doesn't know why it's always raining whenever he and Genma interact. [IruGen] [Rated M for later chapters]
1. Chapter 1

***Author's Notes: **So this is just a little fic that I'm writing, since I'm struggling with Everything Looks Good From a Distance. Genma was sort of throwing a wrench in my plot there, so I thought I'd let him be the star of his own fic in the hopes that he'll leave me be with the other one. Naruto and characters belong to Masashi. Enjoy!

* * *

It was raining that first day. Genma had just come in through the western gate. He was grimy, tired, sore, and hungry. The mission hadn't been too dangerous, more of a pain in the ass than anything, and he'd gotten away with only a gash in his left shoulder and mild chakra exhaustion. It could have been worse, but he was feeling particularly pessimistic that afternoon.

His plan was to skirt around the western edge of the village and cut through training ground 16 to get to his apartment block as quickly as possible. He just wanted to get home, have a hot shower and a bite to eat before handing in his report and meeting Raido at the Sharpened Shuriken for their customary post mission get together. The rain was pounding down on the tokujo, who was forced to blink rapidly and shake his head to keep the constant stream of water out of his eyes. It was frustrating just to be out in it, so when he heard the sound of a shinobi training on ground 16 as he passed, he paused. Who would willing train in this weather?

The curiosity that elites are known for got the better of Genma that rainy afternoon, and even though it delayed his plans, he couldn't help himself. He hopped into the treeline and crept closer to the training ground, masking his chakra. As much as he wanted answers, he didn't want to interrupt seeing as some shinobi were quite particular about whether or not they had an audience when training. Genma himself didn't like to be watched and, given the choice, would only practise spar with a select few.

Once he found a suitable branch on the closest tree, he hunkered down and watched. A young man with dark skin and long hair was battering one of the training posts with a series of hard hitting, high kicks. Genma snorted when he saw the man was shirtless. The rain cascaded down the toned planes of bronze skin, and the tokujo was torn between wanting to touch the other man and wanting to shout at him to put some clothes on. He was muscular, but compact, and Genma couldn't see any scars along the back that faced him. He must be pretty young still, he thought as his senbon twitched between his lips. You can't be an active ninja for any serious period of time and get away with having unmarred skin such as that.

The flurry of kicks ended when the smooth skinned shinobi leapt away from the post and sent a barrage of shuriken into the surrounding trees. A small flock of birds took flight at the disturbance and Genma had to dodge a shuriken that could have very well hit him in the face. Before he could settle himself back on the branch comfortably, the other nin called up to him from his place in the middle of the training field, "If you're going to hang around, you might as well join me."

The voice startled Genma. It sounded even younger than he would have thought, and when he looked back at the other nin his jaw almost dropped. Though the tanned body was quite well developed, the shinobi's face was still soft and boyish, his voice both fitting and not fitting him. The boy was looking straight at Genma's tree, and the tokujo knew he'd been caught. He thought briefly of just teleporting himself away, but knew that'd be a rude first impression. Instead, he hopped down from his branch and wandered to where the golden teen stood, trying to adjust his hitai-ate in a way that would help keep the water out of his eyes, his senbon twitching when he couldn't make it work.

"Why were you watching me?" The young shinobi asked, scratching absently at the scar that ran from cheek to cheek.

"I just wanted to see what kind of nutjob solo trains in this kind of rain, and whether it was by choice or not." Genma's ANBU captain often made him train in uncomfortable conditions, but this kid was very unlikely to be ANBU and therefore unused to that.

The kid shrugged a single shoulder and went about readjusting the way his hair was tied at the crown of his head. The rain had beaten it down and loosened it, pulling some strands out around his face and Genma could see that it irritated him. "I just like the rain."

Genma just watched the boy. Man. And became frustrated. He couldn't figure out how old this shinobi was, and for some reason, that really annoyed him. He wasn't usually one to pry. Yes, he was curious by nature and yes, he liked to listen to (and often repeat) the gossip he heard in the missions room, but Genma hadn't ever been one to ask questions. He listened, and watched, and pushed buttons until he got the information he wanted, but he never asked questions. "How old are you?" Except, apparently, today.

The other shinobi was caught off guard by the random inquiry, and once again scratched at the scar that bisected his face. "Sixteen," he answered after a moment.

"Chuunin?" Genma asked as he nodded, that age making some sense to him.

"Yeah."

Genma nodded again and the two lapsed into silence. It somehow wasn't awkward or strained, or even uncomfortable at all as they just stood there, looking but not really looking at each other. The teen scratched at his scar again and then asked quietly, "How old are you?"

"Twenty three."

The bronze teen looked at the other shinobi, took in the way he held himself and the strength of the man's chakra, the small lines around his mouth that the boy knew was from wearing a frown too often. "Jonin?"

"Tokubetsu," Genma replied.

There was a rumble of far off thunder and the wind picked up briefly as the rain continued to pelt the two Leaf shinobi. The younger of the two twirled a small shuriken between his fingers and eyed the tokujo, mischief glinting dangerously in his coffee coloured eyes. "Spar with me?" the teen asked around a playful grin.

Genma did not spar with strangers. He did not spar with Chuunin. And he did not spar with young men who had boyish smiles and eyes that promised trouble after he'd been caught out in the rain after a mission. "Sure." Except, apparently, today.

It was still raining by the time the pale blond man reached the Sharpened Shuriken. It was later than usual for his arrival, but it was Monday, so the bar wasn't too busy and he spotted Raido easily in the far corner, already nursing a drink. Genma pulled up a seat beside his long-time friend and finished off Raido's drink before ordering them a pitcher to share.

"Tough mission?" Raido asked.

"No," Genma responded, mildly disgruntled. "It wasn't until after I got back into the village that I ran into some delays." The larger man cocked an eyebrow and inclined his head, waiting for his friend to continue. As usual, Raido's body language spurred Genma on. "There was this kid training in the rain, alone, without his shirt on."

"So you stopped to watch," Raido supplied. Most elites would have, even if only for a moment or two.

"Yeah. Except then he somehow drags me into a sparring match with him. And he kicks my ass."

Raido paused for a moment, studying his senbon chewing buddy before coming to a conclusion. "You're kidding."

"No way man," Genma replied, gulping down his drink and pouring himself another. "This punk's taijutsu was better developed than mine, and he used a bunch of these annoying traps to keep me on the ground at close range, where he proceeded to pummel the shit out of me. You know, coming from a Jonin or something, or even an upper Chuunin, okay. Sure. Maybe they can pull it off where I can't get enough distance to land a range hit. Alright. But this kid? No way. I mean, he's barely sixteen, and barely a Chuunin, and the kid completely fucked me."

"You got beat by a greenhorn?" Raido's amusement was palpable.

"Oh, shut up. Kid's smart. Annoyingly smart. And witty, too. Little bastard."

"What's his name?"

Genma shrugged. "Didn't ask. But I'll show him just who he bested next time. Kid's gonna be sore for days."

"Next time?"

"I mean, if I see him again. Which, you know, I probably won't. I've gone sixteen years without seeing him even once, so he'll probably just go back to being invisible again."

Raido smirked around the rim of his glass. "You made plans to spar with him again, didn't you?"

There was a long pause before Genma hurried to correct his friend. "Only to show him that I can kick his ass! It's not like I care if I see him again or not, I just don't want him to get cocky by thinking that he bested me. I mean, lets face it. He only won because I'm tired."

A bark of laughter escaped the larger tokujo as Genma tried to convince him that a random Chuunin hadn't caught his interest. "It's okay if you make another friend, ya know," Raido said, amusement in his voice, "I don't have to be your only one."

"You are not my only friend, asshole!" Genma sputtered. "Hayate and Asuma are my friends, and Kakashi and I have a good time whenever he crawls out from under his rock of isolation and escapes from Gai. And I talk to Anko every day!"

Raido just nodded along and continued to smirk. It was about time Genma made another friend.


	2. Chapter 2

***Author's notes: **Hello again! I hope you all had a good holiday season. Here is chapter two for you all. Enjoy. Naruto and characters belong to Masahi.

* * *

The heat was almost unbearable, and it was only midafternoon. Though clouds covered the sky, it was muggy as all hell. Genma had been sitting under a large tree at the edge of training ground 16, waiting for his new Chuunin sparring partner. He'd been there for almost half an hour, but he didn't have anything better to do so he didn't see it as a big deal. Though he would probably pretend to be pissed once the kid showed up; that's just something elites did. His senbon twitched in his mouth as he thought of just how angry he was going to pretend to be. How much did he want to freak this kid out?

But before Genma could really begin to think too hard, he felt waves of erratic chakra coming from the western gate. Concerned, the tokujo stood and sprinted over. As he neared, he saw three forms struggling to stay upright.

"Shiranui-san," One of the injured shinobi called out weakly, and Genma recognized the voice as belonging to a Chuunin he'd been on a mission with about a month ago.

In an instant Genma was there. His spiky haired past teammate was bleeding profusely, and his chakra output was this constant pulsing mess, almost as if he couldn't control it. A second Chuunin was crumpled on the ground at the feet of the first, clearly in a world of pain and without the energy to stay on his feet. His breath came in wheezes and his body would be wracked with tremors every few moments. A third man was draped over the back of the first, his arms hanging limply over his comrade's shoulders. Genma couldn't sense any chakra output from him at all, which was highly concerning, and he was unmoving and unconscious.

"Hagane-san, what happened?" Genma asked seriously as he moved to pull the one Chuunin off the ground. As soon as his hands touched the other though, the youngster jerked away from the touch and pulled a kunai. His movements were slow and feeble, and he would have been dead if Genma was an enemy, but it gave the tokujo at least a small insight as to how wrong this squad's mission had gone.

Hagane Kotetsu let out a hiss as pain wracked through his system, then ground his teeth together. "It was supposed to be a B-rank, and hardly even that. Everything went to shit as soon as we got out of fire country. Help me get them to the hospital; I can't control my chakra enough to teleport, and even if I could I'm not sure I'd have enough to get all three of us there."

Genma easily knocked the kunai out of the hand of the grounded Chuunin, then hoisted the man over his shoulder. "I'll run this guy over and let the medics know. Someone will be here to help you as soon as possible," and with that, Genma teleported straight to the ER. He relayed what he saw to the nurses as the Chuunin was taken from him, and then Asuma was suddenly beside him with two injured Chuunin in his arms. As soon as they materialized, Kotetsu passed out. As his body crumpled and Asuma adjusted to hold two bodies of dead weight, the face of the third Chuunin became visible to Genma for the first time. The long scar across the cheekbones made the blond man flinch. There would be no pretending to be angry now.

Nobody noticed as the first few drops of rain smattered across the hospital windows.

* * *

Asuma came back to the table with two more bottles of beer, and he slid one towards Genma as he sat himself down. The blond popped the top off and took a swig before running a hand over his face. "That was brutal."

Asuma nodded and sighed heavily. "They're good kids. It's lucky they survived."

"You know them?"

"Hagane Kotetsu used to have a big crush on my sister. When she got engaged he was crushed, but he sent her the biggest bouquet of flowers I've ever seen, and even told her fiance that he wished them all the best. Since then, he's sort of shifted his attention to me. Treats me like a big brother or cousin or something. Kamizuki Izumo, the one you took, is with Kotetsu all the time. He's always been pretty quiet."

"I sort of know Hagane," Genma replied. "We've worked together once or twice. He's rowdy, but competent. Who's the one with the scar on his face?"

"Oh, that'd be Umino Iruka. My father's kept an eye on him since the Kyuubi attacks, so I know a bit about him. He's a troublemaker, but a good kid."

Genma chewed on his senbon, lost in thought for a while before he asked, "What do you think happened out there? They're greenhorns; Sandaime-sama wouldn't have given them anything too dangerous."

"I heard a bit of Kotetsu's verbal report. Sounds like they accidentally discovered a camp of missing nin near the border with Grass, and while they were trying to figure out what to do they were ambushed and taken captive. They were only held for a day or so before Umino somehow got them out, but the damage was done." Asuma's voice was gruff and grave, and his eyes were dark with thought as he took a sip of his beer.

"Missing nin?" Genma was surprised and disgruntled. "They going to send a squad to dispatch them?"

"Yeah. Hound, Tortoise, and Hawk have apparently already left."

"If three injured Chuunin were able to get away in a day, do they really require Hound out there? Those assholes don't seem like that big of a danger, considering."

Asuma shrugged. "It sounded like their escape had more to do with Iruka being ridiculously intelligent and feeling desperate than with the missing nin's overall incompetence. Kotetsu seemed pretty resigned to death. I say send Hound and make sure the bastards get what's coming to 'em. Better safe than sorry."

Genma shrugged slightly and his senbon twitched between his lips, his thoughts caught up on the fact that the scar faced Chuunin had been the one to get his squad out of trouble. He knew that Umino was younger than Hagane by at least a year, and had been a Chuunin for less time. "Who was the squad leader?"

"Kotetsu. It was his first mission as team leader. Kid wasn't ready. It's going to be tough making sure he isn't crippled by guilt or anything."

Genma made a grunt of agreement before downing the rest of his drink and standing, throwing some money on the table. "I better get outta here; meeting with Rai for some training in the morning. He'll kick my ass if I'm too hung over."

Asuma laughed as he lit a cigarette. "Yeah, no doubt. Take it easy. See ya 'round."

It was drizzling when Genma stepped outside, and it had been since he'd left the hospital two hours ago. The weather sure had been pretty strange for mid July. He wandered up and down the near empty Konoha streets, unable to stop thinking about that bronze skinned teen. How had such a newbie gotten his squad out of that mess? His taijutsu was strong, but in a hostage situation that generally wasn't enough and he hadn't shown any real skill in any other area when they were sparring. How had he done it? The kid had been pretty good with traps and such, but a lot of that takes planning and time; things that Umino hadn't had. Asuma had said the kid was smart, but brains needed capability in order to be of any use.

Genma looked up and was surprised to find himself in front of the hospital. The low rumble of thunder sounded overhead and the drizzle turned into more of a pouring. He didn't think too much about anything as he entered the hospital doors and began wandering the corridors, eyes peeled for dark hair and golden skin behind any of the doors.


	3. Chapter 3

***Author's notes: **Here's a pretty quick update for you. Naruto and Characters belong to Masashi

* * *

Umino Iruka was suffering from almost complete chakra depletion. He slept so often he was practically in a coma. The few times he did wake during the first week of being in the hospital, he was incoherent and disoriented. Hagane Kotetsu had been released into his mother's care after three days, and Kamizuki Izumo had been allowed to go home after the copious amount of poison had worked through and been expelled from his system under the condition that he make daily reports back for the next week. Iruka continued to lay nearly unresponsive in his hospital bed for another fourteen days. When Genma had caught wind of the fact that nobody had visited the boy since he'd hunted him down that first day, the tokujo had made up his mind to stop by and check up on him biweekly until he was well enough to go home. It had been three weeks since then, and very slowly the teen was making progress.

"The nurse was telling me that if you promise not to try using chakra for the next little while, they'll let you go home soon," the pale blond man murmured around his senbon as he lazed in the chair beside the bed. The only way he could make himself comfortable was by tossing both his long legs over one of the chair's arms and propping himself on an elbow that was balanced precariously on the other arm. His torso was bent at an odd angle, and if he sat like that too long his left asscheek was bound to go numb, but Genma didn't mind. The last time he'd been in the hospital, Raido had visited him every day he'd been in the village until he was released. It just didn't seem right to the tokujo that this kid didn't have anyone coming to see him, so he could put up with a numb butt if it meant relieving the loneliness he knew the teen would be experiencing.

"How can I use any chakra when I still can't get my fingers to work properly?" the dark haired teen asked, his voice playful even though his eyes showed a bruised pride. The missing nin had smashed both his hands so badly that when he had first arrived at the hospital the nurses weren't sure they'd be able to heal them well enough to be usable again. They'd done a good job, and the tanned hands once again looked like hands, but the joints were still painful, stiff, and creaky. Iruka wasn't yet able to make a closed fist, and his fingers weren't flexible enough to form most handsigns. The physiotherapy was painful for him, and frustrating, and the longer it took to get regular movement in his fingers and wrists the more embarrassed he became.

"It doesn't matter, just promise," Genma smirked, "and then when you get outta here I'll take you to the Sharpened Shuriken to celebrate. You can close your hand enough to hold a beer, right?"

Iruka smiled. "I hope so. It'd be pretty demoralizing if I had to drink out of a straw."

Genma laughed, but watched with a careful eye as the teen closed his eyes and rested heavily back against the pillows he'd been propped up against. Iruka was awake more often, but was still very easily exhausted. Genma waited until the teen's breathing slowed into a pattern of sleep before he unfolded himself out of the uncomfortable chair and exited through the window. He beelined for Raido's apartment block and didn't bother knocking before walking in through the front door.

"Kid's gonna come drinking with us once he's out," Genma shouted as he started rummaging through the kitchen cupboards.

"And when will that be?" Raido shouted back, his voice floating in from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Pretty quick if he doesn't push too hard." Genma grinned when he found what he was looking for, and pulled the dried and salted seaweed down from the shelf. He was in the process of ripping the package open and popping a vivid green sheet into his mouth when his friend entered the room, a towel wrapped around his hips.

"Will they even let him in? You're the youngest of the regulars and you've got almost a decade on him."

"He's a Chuunin, it'd be stupid if they turned him away. Besides, any nin who almost lost his hands deserves a drink, ne?"

"Obviously. Hand injuries are a bitch," Raido responded as he moved past his friend and opened the fridge. "But he's pretty young; the waitresses will eat him alive."

Genma laughed as he popped another seaweed sheet into his mouth. "Nah, I'll keep those old girls off 'im. Besides, we all know that everyone in that bar wants to bone me."

Raido grinned as he poured himself some water, but didn't say anything. He didn't know how he felt about having such a young kid as a tag-along; it was really he who had ten years on Iruka, not Genma. But he'd let it happen this first time, if only to meet the boy Genma had been nearly obsessed with recently.

"Hey Rai, do you know of any other Umino's in the village? I think little buddy's the only one I've met." Genma was contemplative and hoping that he'd been wrong in his guesses.

"You know what? When I was a genin one of my friends had an Umino-sensei, but I don't think I've seen or heard anything of him since the Kyuubi."

"You think Ru's the last one?"

Raido almost laughed when he heard Genma refer to the kid as 'Ru', but his voice was devoid of any amusement as he thought and then answered, "Could be, unless it's a predominantly civilian clan."

"You don't think that's the case though."

"Not really," the older nin murmured.

"You know, other than me, he hasn't even had any friends visit him." Genma's voice shrank as he thought, and Raido watched with thinly veiled interest. Genma, though a little louder and a little more brash than Raido, was much more sensitive. It wasn't often that the blond let down his talkative, foul mouthed, cheshire cat grinning mask and just let himself think and feel. This Iruka kid really would be quite good for Genma.

"Well, he'll have plenty of friends in no time if he hangs around with us. Don't worry too much about it, Gen."

* * *

"Are you sure we shouldn't have picked him up from his apartment?" Genma asked as he chewed on his senbon and swirled his drink around in its bottle.

"Calm down, it's still early. Besides, it's his first day out of the hospital; he's probably taking his time because he hasn't been outside in, what, a month?"

"Heh, I guess you're right," Genma agreed as he sipped at his beer, his eyes on the door. Raido just grinned and shook his head. He couldn't quite figure out yet what sort of relationship his blond friend was trying to forge with the Chuunin in question, but it was funny watching him try to hide his squirming. "Hey, there he is."

Raido followed Genma's gaze and his eyes landed on a handsome boy. The larger tokujo nudged his friend and let out a low whistle, and Genma's face broke out into an uncharacteristic blush. Interesting.

Iruka looked around the bar from just inside the door, apprehension apparent on his tanned face. But Genma's senbon twitched and caught the light, and when Iruka spotted it he smiled and made his way over to where the two tokujo were seated. He paused at the edge of the table and raised his hand in greeting, and Genma pulled him into the booth with a laugh. "It's not like you to be so shy, Iruka! I promise Rai will be nice to you!"

A blush lit up the Chuunin's face just above the line of his scar, and Raido smirked as he introduced himself. "Namiashi Raido. First drink's on me."

"Umino Iruka. Thank you for letting me tag along with you tonight Namiashi-san."

Raido flatout laughed. "Hey, no need to be so formal, kid. Raido will do."

Iruka's blush deepened as he nodded, and Genma pushed his half empty beer at the teen. "Drink up buddy. As much fun as making you blush is, I'd like for Rai to get to know you a little bit so you're going to have to relax." Genma's grin lit up the features that, left to their natural expression, were permanently bored. Iruka studied him for a moment before raising the drink to his lips and taking a long sip, his fingers loose around the fat part of the bottle.

Iruka put the bottle down and shot Genma a cheeky smirk. "Looks like I'm not going to need that straw just yet."

The tokujo laughed heartily. It was the first time the rain let up in almost a month.


	4. Chapter 4

***Author's notes: **This is a repost of the chapter I literally posted an hour ago. I realized I forgot my disclaimer and I wanted to mention a few things. Firstly, I'm sorry for the late update! I just moved last week and was only able to get internet hooked up earlier today. Secondly, I know that Mizuki is actually a lot closer to Genma's age than Iruka's if you look at the Wiki bios, but with the timeline and him, in canon, being Iruka's childhood friend that didn't make a lot of sense to me so I made him closer to the trio's age. Third, "fuck's it to you?" is the way my friends will ask, "What the fuck?" and such. And lastly, I love and appreciate the feedback I've been getting, so please feel free to drop me a review if the urge hits you! And now for the important part: Naruto and characters belong to Masashi.

* * *

Everything Genma did, he did hard. He fought hard, trained hard, laughed hard, drank hard, flirted hard, fucked hard. He teased and probed and pushed boundaries and crossed lines. When people thought of Genma, they didn't think 'gentle'. But as the night progressed and the three shinobi drank, Raido noticed something strange in his best friend. Genma was laughing and drinking and flirting, but his usual hard edge had softened considerably. His pace had slowed to match Iruka's, he kept the volume of his voice lower than usual, and his flirting had taken a subtler, more wholesome turn.

Iruka's face had been bright red nearly all night.

It was only about eleven when the kid's energy dropped to an almost non-existent level. He slumped a little against Genma, and had difficulty keeping his beer bottle in his hand. Raido spotted the signs of a growing headache and nudged his blond friend. "Better think about getting him home. He seems pretty spent."

In truth, Iruka had been feeling spent when he had arrived. Before he had been released from the hospital the doctors had given him a particularly gruelling physio session, and then run him through multiple exercises that would help him bring his chakra flow back up to normal. The doctors had tried to exhaust him so that when he reached home he would get some much needed sleep. But instead of sleeping, Iruka had come to the bar.

It had been difficult for him to keep his grip on that first bottle, his aching fingers fighting him more and more as the night progressed, but he hadn't wanted to say anything. He was hanging with elites; how embarrassing would it be if he'd needed to ask for help drinking a beer? So he'd kept the pain to himself and drank slowly, doing his level best to fight off the fatigue that was gnawing at him. It seemed though that his mask was slipping as he noticed Raido watching him a little too attentively.

Genma's eyes turned to study the boy that was leaning against him and swallowed around a lump in his throat. He'd been so busy enjoying Iruka's company that he hadn't noticed the fact that the kid seemed dead on his feet. "Okay, time to go kid," he murmured as he shifted, helping Iruka to stand and then letting the teen lean against his shoulder. "I'll take him home. See you tomorrow?"

Raido nodded. "Hey, make sure he does something about those hands once he's home. His fingers look like they're stiffening up pretty bad."

Genma grunted in acknowledgement before turning and steering his young friend to the exit. Iruka brushed the hands off of his shoulders and led the way, his feet dragging and his shoulders slumped. Genma kicked himself. This was too much exertion for the kid's first day of freedom, and the tokujo should have known better. But he'd just wanted to cheer the teen up, let him know that he had a friend in not only himself, but in Rai as well. He actually didn't even really want the boy to go back to his apartment and be on his own just yet. He knew Iruka wasn't too steady on his feet, had next to no chakra, and very little control of his hands. With Iruka living alone and not apparently not having many good friends, anything could happen while he was alone in the apartment. He could collapse and be unable to get help. If for some unknown reason the teen was attacked in his home, he wouldn't be able to really defend himself. Really, anything could happen to him and no one would know for hours, maybe even days. Genma's heart rate sped up. He supposed he and Rai would just have to drop by and check up on Iruka. A lot.

A few more stumbled blocks north had the pair arriving at the base of a run down apartment building. Genma prayed that this wasn't where Iruka lived, but he was disappointed as the Chuunin climbed the outdoor stairs to the second floor. The building smelled like alcohol, musk, and piss, the walls were stained with blood and water damage, the roof tiles looked like they were about ready to fall off, and the stairs were precarious at best. The tokujo didn't know anyone else who even lived in this part of the village. That thought left a bad taste in his mouth; he knew a lot of people who were willing to live in some extent of squalor, but he'd never known anyone who lived in conditions such as these. He followed as Iruka opened his apartment door and switched the light on. There was a rustling noise coming from the kitchen and Genma threw a well aimed kunai without a second thought. When he heard a yelp and a hissed curse, he turned and looked.

A boy Genma had never seen before was standing near the fridge, his arm reaching toward a cupboard. The kunai had sailed through the air and hit the cupboard door between the boy's fingers. His green eyes flashed, and the kitchen light reflected off his shoulder length silver hair almost blindingly. His hitai-ate was tied around his head much like Genma's own, but the metal was polished and unscratched, new. "Ruka, what the fuck?"

Iruka gave a single shouldered shrug as he stumbled toward his couch and collapsed in a tired, mildly drunk heap. "Why didn't you turn the light on? You sounded like a rat."

The silver haired boy snorted as he eyed Genma calculatingly. "In a place like this, I'm surprised you heard me and not the rats. They climb up here when it's wet."

"I don't have any good food here. You'll have to go to Anko's."

A heavy unease settled in Genma's chest. Who was this boy in Iruka's apartment? He hadn't visited Iruka once in the six weeks he'd been in the hospital, and Iruka hadn't mentioned anyone having free range of his apartment. "The fuck are you doing, slinking around here in the dark?" Genma asked the silver haired boy, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

The boy snorted again. "Fuck's it to you? I should be asking you, what are you doing in the home of a young, drunken, apparently incapacitated underling? That seems like a grave misuse of your superiority, Jonin-san."

Genma shot a glance at Iruka only to see that the teen had completely passed out on the sagging, torn couch, before turning a glare to the other boy and growling. "Don't challenge me, kid. Get the fuck outta here. He's been in the hospital for over a month and all his food's bad anyway. Go mooch off somebody else."

The teen gave a smirk that set Genma on edge, but moved for the door. "I don't know if I should leave him alone with such a strange man, Jonin-san," he hissed around his eerie grin, "but that sounded like an order to me, so I'll just be on my way out." Genma watched with sharp eyes as the teen zipped his flak vest up and stepped out of the door. Just as he was about to shut it as his voice floated back in, saying, "See you around, Shiranui-san."

The blond man stood in the middle of the room, perplexed and uncomfortable. None of his comrades had ever made him feel so uneasy before, no Leaf nin he had ever encountered had gotten under his skin in such a way. His gaze fell back on the slumbering Chuunin, and he was only pulled out of his discomfort when he noticed the stiffness in Iruka's hands. The tokujo jumped into action, rummaging around the bathroom and bedroom cupboards until he found the bag that Iruka had brought with him from the hospital. From it, he pulled a jar of pasty white and foul smelling cream. He then sat on the couch and grabbed one of Iruka's hands, knowing from all those times of watching the nurses that the teen was too exhausted to be of much danger if he suddenly awoke, and that it was unlikely he would wake in the first place. He scooped some cream into his fingers and massaged it thoroughly into his young friend's tan skin, working it especially carefully into the joints of his fingers and his wrists. He wished that he could use healing chakra and infuse the cream with it; he'd seen the nurses do that and it seemed to help a great deal, but he'd never had any skill with healing chakra at all. Maybe he'd ask Rai to give it a shot some time.

When Genma had finished rubbing the cream into both of his comrade's hands, he picked the teen up off the couch and awkwardly dumped him on his bed, hesitating only a moment before jerking the blanket out from under Iruka's body and laying it over him. He thought about leaving then, but the memory of the other boy's green eyes and strange smile made Genma decide to crash on the couch. Someone should be around to make sure the kid sleeps aright his first night out, he told himself as he balled his flak vest up and rested his head on top of it. The first night is always the hardest.


	5. Chapter 5

***Author's notes: **Hello again, here is chapter five! The more I get into this little story, the more I fall in love with it, and I desperately hope that you all are enjoying reading it just as much as I am enjoying writing. Please feel free to drop me a note or write a review; the feedback and advice means a lot to me. As always, Naruto and characters belong to Masashi. Here we go!

* * *

It was the crash of thunder and continuous pelting of rain on the rickety tiles of the roof that pulled Iruka from his slumber. He rolled and drew the pillow over his head, only to be accosted by the memory of coming home, Mizuki antagonizing Genma, and then falling asleep in the living room. He fluffed the pillow and curled his feet under the blanket, slouching into the mattress briefly before moving to sit up. This, decidedly, was not the living room. This was also increasingly strange weather for summertime in Konoha. Another thing that was strange was the fact that the teen felt very little soreness in his hands, but he was in no way complaining.

He stood and made his way down the hall into the combined kitchen/living room area and wasn't all that surprised to find Genma asleep on the couch. Over the course of their brief friendship, the young tokujo had become quite protective over Iruka, and though Iruka didn't know whether Genma was like that with all his friends or not, it brought a small grin to his face anyway. Mizuki was Iruka's friend without a doubt, and had been since before their days at the academy, but he was very independent and elusive by nature. He had never really shown any protectiveness over Iruka, and had never been around when he'd needed defending from bullies. Sometimes the other boy would disappear for days, even weeks at a time, and then show up in Iruka's kitchen as if he'd been gone only a few minutes and proceed to eat him out of house and home. That had been the silver haired teen's plan last night, no doubt, when Genma's fighting instinct had interrupted his search for snacks. Iruka had been amused at the time, but now that he was more awake he frowned at the memory. Mizuki hadn't visited him in the hospital even once, and even though Iruka hadn't expected him to, he had expected some form of acknowledgement of it upon their first meeting since before that shotty mission. But Mizuki had made no mention of the fact, not even to chastise Iruka for being careless and letting himself be captured. Not even to tease him about the sorry state of his hands.

What he had done, though, was go out of his way to irritate Genma, and that caused a furrow in Iruka's brow.

The teen didn't dwell on it too much though, as his new friend began to stir under his gaze, and Iruka ducked underneath the handful of senbon that had been tossed in his direction with ease. Once he righted himself, he laughed when he saw Genma's bleary eyes and the way he searched his vest pockets. Iruka's Jonin-sensei had reacted similarly when awoken from naps, as if in his sleep he'd been robbed. Being shinobi, Iruka guessed that that probably wasn't unlikely. "Morning to you too, Genma-san," Iruka tittered as he wandered toward the stove, his hand reaching for the cupboard that hung above it.

The older blond mumbled something incoherently as he rubbed at his eyes, wondering why he let himself fall asleep in unfamiliar places.

"I would've been fine on my own, ya know," Iruka informed him good naturedly as he put a kettle on to boil and began preparing two mugs of tea, "but thank you for not letting Mizuki eat anything. I'd never hear the end of it if he'd gotten food poisoning."

Iruka's chatter reminded Genma of last night, and his features drew into an unconscious frown. "Who is that kid anyway? He was acting pretty strangely."

"Mizuki? Our mothers had been friends, I've known him forever. He's not usually like that, I don't know what was up last night. Maybe a bad mission."

Genma snorted. "Couldn't have been as bad as your last one. And that didn't seem like any case of post-mission grumps I've ever seen."

Iruka just gave his usual single shoulder shrug, and Genma knew the teen would be scratching at his scar if his hands hadn't been preoccupied with tea. Genma wasn't much of a tea drinker (he stuck mostly to strong coffee and stronger sake), but he didn't turn it down as Iruka handed him a mug. Genma was many things; loud, brash, even vulgar at times, but he would never be accused of being impolite, so he would accept anything that the teen put in front of him without a word. Accept maybe eggs. Genma might cross the line at eggs.

"How are your hands feeling?" the blond asked as he sniffed at the tea. "You fell asleep, but I used that cream on your hands anyway. The doctors said you had to apply it often."

"They feel a lot better than yesterday," Iruka replied with a smile, "thank you."

The rest of the morning progressed as if Genma spending the night was something that had been happening for years, as if it was routine for them, and Genma was surprised by just how easy being around the teen was. Though it often seemed that Genma and Raido were attached at the hip, and they were truly very good friends, Genma often spent a fair bit of time alone. It seemed though that that morning was the beginning of the tokujo's personal revolution. He and the Chuunin were practically inseparable from then on.

* * *

Nearly a year later, on Iruka's seventeenth birthday, the teen had big news. It was midday and he had just been released from Sandaime-sama's office. Iruka's customary easy grin seemed even larger than usual as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop, his eyes scanning for a bandanna over pale blond hair. Genma had recently begun pulling shifts at the mission room, and he'd probably be on his lunch break with Raido right now. Iruka rolled his eyes and doubled back toward the Hokage tower. He often forgot Genma ate lunch right atop the missions reports, Raido turning the rumpled pages into origami when he got too bored.

The excited teen burst into the mission room with an excited whoop, then slid across the desk, sending papers scattering to the floor. "Guys, guys, guys!"

Raido raised a dark eyebrow and leaned back out of the rambunctious teen's way, but smirked at Genma over the ponytailed head. Genma growled at the teen, but couldn't keep the amusement from his eyes. "The fuck, kid? I'm gonna have to clean all this up!"

"I got in! I actually got in!" Iruka babbled, too excited to react to Genma's teasing.

"Got in where?" Raido asked, a lecherous tone to his voice.

"The academy, asshole," Iruka responded, laughing as he cuffed Raido's ear.

"You made such a bad ninja that they sent you back to school?" Genma gasped, feigning shock.

"You're both dickwads!" the youngest of the trio exclaimed as he slid all the way over the desk and landed practically in Genma's lap before scrambling, oblivious to the look his companions were sharing over the table, into the chair beside Genma's. "I got into the academy training program! Starting Monday, I get to shadow one of the senseis during the school day and help with the kids and stuff for the rest of the school year. If I do well, I might get my own class come September!"

Raido patted the teen on the shoulder and smiled warmly at him while Genma just shook his head. "You are the only person I know who thinks that that sounds exciting." But the pride in his eyes gave the blond away and he planted and friendly kiss on the metal of Iruka's hitai-ate.

Iruka just grinned and went babbling on with Genma listening much more attentively than he let on while Raido smirked at his blond friend and watched. The teen had grown on Raido exponentially and the three of them could often be found together, but Raido's favourite part of being in this trio was watching the other two interact with each other. Genma had always been a very physical person, reacting to everything very much with his body instead of his brain, so when Raido noticed the arm slung affectionately over a slender young shoulder as they walked down the street shortly after the teen became a prominent part of Genma's life, the elder of the three wasn't surprised. When the forehead kisses started a few months back, that had caught Raido a bit off guard, but Iruka flourished under Genma's unexpected way of showing his support. Iruka, who had been very much alone after the death of his parents, thrived when given any sort of physical contact; he always leaned into Raido's pats on the back and post-mission hugs, and these kisses to his hitai-ate from Genma just lit the kid right up. But Raido loved sitting back and watching because both younger nin, though neither seemed to notice yet, were quite interested and drawn in by the other.

Genma was undeniably physically attracted to the teen. Even over the ten months that Genma and Raido had known him, Iruka had gotten taller, broader, and his muscles more defined. His face had lost it's boyish roundness, his chin and cheekbones becoming more defined, his scar molding to his face in a way that only served to highlight the expressiveness of his eyes. But Rai had noticed that it was more than physical attraction that had struck Genma. The blond often talked of the teen when Iruka wasn't around, and his protective streak had grown to be about a kilometer wide. He would set Iruka up on these blind dates with kunoichi that he knew, but then would act jealous and grumpy, moping around Raido, when the teen would go on them. Raido knew Genma didn't notice he was doing it, and that made it all the more funny.

Iruka, too, showed almost an over interest in his blond friend. He always sat very close to Genma, walked almost too closely to him when they went out. He tried to make Genma laugh multiple times a conversation, and, less obviously, was quite concerned about making decisions that Genma would approve of. He often asked for the blond's advice and opinion, and though Asuma was convinced that it was in a similar way to how Kotetsu looked up to him, Raido was certain of otherwise. He wondered when either of his friends would notice or acknowledge the romantic relationship that was trying to build up between them.


	6. Chapter 6

***Author's notes: **Hello again! So sorry for the late update! But here we are, and hopefully I'll be able to get back on track with my usual speed and enthusiasm. I am currently working on a much darker fic in tandem with this one, and going back and forth between the two has been difficult due to the very different moods of each piece. I'll try harder to keep my work on the other from hindering the work here! Naruto and characters belong to Masashi.

* * *

Late August. The weather was almost unbearably hot, the stream of missions to be done was almost dry, and Genma and Iruka were on the cusp of a dramatic change in their relationship. Things had been sort of tense between them for a while, with Genma taking more shifts at the mission room since there were very little missions to be done, and Iruka had been at the academy before school, during school, and after school hours from May until July. The teen was currently a nervous (but excited) wreck, because at the beginning of the month he'd found out that one of the academy senseis was resigning and wouldn't be returning to school in September. Iruka had spent most of August trying to prepare for his first group of students. By the time the end of summer Jonin picnic rolled around, Genma and Iruka had hardly seen each other for weeks. Iruka was starting to feel insecure about the state of their friendship, falling back on Mizuki to keep him company. Genma had been missing Iruka's constant presence sorely, but when he'd noticed an increased amount of interaction between his favourite Chuunin and the silver haired creep, he felt that he'd been snubbed.

But the picnic was coming up, Raido was busy accompanying the Hokage in his visits to Cloud, Wave, and Grass, and Genma was lonely. So, one evening about a week before the picnic, Genma went to Iruka's apartment. He knew Mizuki wouldn't be there as he'd given the asshole a mission to Mist, and he was almost desperate in his hope that Iruka would be happy to see him. He got to the apartment, knocked on the door, and waited. He noticed the peeling paint and, for what must be the millionth time since he'd known the teen, wondered just when Iruka would move. He knew Iruka could afford to, but the kid chose to stay in this shithole anyway. Genma waited for a few minutes, and when no one came to answer the door he reached out with his chakra. He knew Iruka was inside, but the chakra signature was, though strong, unstable. The tokujo's eyebrows furrowed and he didn't hesitate to bust the door in.

Iruka had been slumped over the small wobbly table that sat in front of the couch, a file open and under his head with papers scattered around him. When the door slammed against the wall, the teen jolted from his fitful sleep, wild eyes falling on Genma. "You okay?" the blond asked, trying not to sound overly concerned.

"You kicked in my door." The Chuunin murmured, rubbing his jaw. "What are you doing?"

"Your chakra was funny. Nightmare?"

Iruka hesitated before giving a brief nod. "But don't worry. It's fine."

Genma studied his friend critically, checking the teen's weight, the sheen of his hair, and more closely examining his chakra. Iruka took the scrutiny with but a roll of his eyes as he pulled himself off the floor and physically steered the blond into the kitchen. "I just came to see what you're up to. Working?" the older man asked as he sat at the island, nodding back at the open file on the living room table.

"Sorta. Not really," Iruka replied as he went about brewing some coffee for his friend. Genma had been around the teen's apartment so often that when the brunet found out his friend didn't like tea, he went out and bought a coffee maker. "I just received the file that has the profiles of all my students in it. I was just going over it when I fell asleep."

"I didn't know they had class files like that. The kids seem so terrifying that reading the file gave you nightmares?"

Genma had meant it as a joke, but Iruka's chuckle was obviously uncomfortable. "No," he replied almost nervously. "They're just eight year olds."

"Then why do you seem so nervous about it?"

Iruka chewed his bottom lip while sliding the coffee mug toward Genma, and his eyes flicked back to the file as he poured himself some tea. "Well, maybe they're not all just eight year olds," he murmured as he looked at his reflection in the kettle.

"What do you mean?"

"They've given me the jinchuuriki."

That gave Genma pause. The Kyuubi had killed Iruka's parents, and the Hokage wanted to put the demon's container in Iruka's first solo class? That seemed weird. "Well.. That's...,"

"I feel bad. I mean, he is just a little boy. Right? He's never killed anybody. But the fox.. And he's... I'm just worried. But Sandaime-sama wouldn't have given me this class if he thought I couldn't do it. Right?" Iruka's voice was uncertain, though Genma could tell the young Chuunin was trying his best to hide it.

"Right," the blond agreed casually, though he felt just as uncertain as Iruka. Why wouldn't they have given the jinchuuriki to a more experienced teacher? Or at least to someone who'd been a bit less affected by the fox than Iruka. Surely Ebisu could handle it? "But, you could ask to transfer him to another class if you don't think...,"

Iruka shook his head slightly and sighed before taking the first sip of his tea. "No. I mean, I could but... That just doesn't feel like...," His voice was calm, but he was shaking. He didn't really notice the trembling of his hands, or the fact that his eyes itched with forming tears. He thought back to the photo of the jinchuuriki, a blindingly blond head of hair with the bluest of eyes. Blond that was almost unnatural, so very different from Genma's soft blond. He was just a boy with pudgy cheeks and a smile that almost swallowed the rest of the boy's face. Iruka almost dropped his cup of tea, the shaking was so bad, but he still wasn't aware of it. Images of flames flashed behind his eyes, flames and bodies. The sky was dark, the sounds of screaming echoed from every which direction. Buildings were collapsing around him as he ran through the rubble, over sodden flak vests and limbs that seemed to belong nowhere. Blond hair, blue eyes. Screeching, tails of fire striking everything that stood. Screaming. Fear. Where were his parents? Where was his mother? Little boyish cheeks, bluer eyes than he'd ever seen before. Death and destruction everywhere. Blond hair the colour of cartoon suns. Foxes. Boys. Demons. Children.

But all that faded as strong arms were wrapped around him, pulling him into a muscled chest. Genma held his best friend for a long time, waiting for the Chuunin to stop shaking. He knew Iruka didn't know he'd been crying, and so drew no attention to the fact that the teen was dampening his vest. "He's just a boy," the tokujo whispered into his friend's dark hair, "You said so yourself. It'll be alright."

Iruka nodded, that being the only thing he could manage. And he was thankful. How had he gone so long without seeing his blond companion? Mizuki would have laughed at his anxiety, would have made him feel stupid. But somehow Genma understood. How that was possible, Iruka didn't know, but he supposed it didn't really matter. As long as Genma kept understanding, kept being his friend even when he was acting distant and overly emotional, Iruka could forgive the kicking down of doors and the dirty jokes and the tenseness he often felt in Genma.

When the trembling subsided, Genma stepped back and studied his young friend. "Hey, I actually had a reason for coming here, before you had to go all soap opera on me."

Iruka laughed, having expected nothing except for Genma to try to distract him. "Oh yeah? And what could that possibly have been?"

"Come to the Jonin picnic with me on Wednesday. Rai probably won't be back yet and I don't want to go by myself. There'll be lots of alcohol and games and half naked people in the lake. It'll be fun!"

The teen shifted uncomfortably. "Wednesday? Mizuki and I were going to-,"

"Aww, come on Iruka! Anko probably invited him to go with her anyway. She did just get promoted, remember? And she's got a soft spot for him. You're not really bailing if he's gonna be there."

"We don't know he'll be there...,"

"Iruka," Genma was discouraged to say the least. If the teen already had plans, it'd be hard to get Iruka to back out of them, and the fact that they were plans with that Mizuki bastard left a bad taste in his mouth. Something was wrong with that little weirdo, and he couldn't figure out why Iruka and Anko couldn't see that. The fact that two of his friends liked the silver haired asshole royally pissed him off. "We haven't hung out in forever. Just come by for a couple hours. You'll have a good time."

Iruka sighed. "Isn't it called the Jonin picnic for a reason? Everybody's going to think it's weird if I'm there...,"

The blond man grinned. If that was Iruka's protest, he knew he had the Chuunin where he wanted him. And then he laughed and threw his arm over the teen's shoulders. "You afraid of a few dozen Jonin, Iruka? Don't worry, I'll protect you from those scary elites!"

Iruka snorted in annoyance, but the amusement in his eyes was clear as he shifted and pulled Genma into a headlock, skewing the tokujo's hitai-ate enough to ruffle the blond hair underneath it. Genma threw together a couple hand signs and reappeared on the other side of the room. "Oh, you better run kid," he growled in mock anger, "You're gonna pay for that!"

Iruka shrieked with laughter before turning and running out of his apartment at a chakra enhanced pace, hopping along rooftops and over telephone poles, Genma chasing after him with a grin, loud whoops of laughter echoing throughout the village as the sun began to set.


End file.
